Philip Kotler is the “father of modern marketing.” He is the S.C. Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He was voted the first Leader in Marketing Thought by the American Marketing Association and named The Founder of Modern Marketing Management in the Handbook of Management Thinking. Professor Kotler holds major awards including the American Marketing Association’s (AMA) Distinguished Marketing Educator Award and Distinguished Educator Award from The Academy of Marketing Science. The Sales and Marketing Executives International (SMEI) named him Marketer of the Year and the American Marketing Association described him as “the most influential marketer of all time.” He is in the Thinkers50Hall of Fame, and is featured as a “guru” in theEconomist.

Phil, you’re called the “father of marketing”…

Actually, marketing has several fathers of marketing. Marketing has been around for over 100 years. We could mention many marketing luminaries who had a great impact on our marketing theory and practice.

I have been labeled the “father of modern marketing.” This is the result of two things. My marketing textbooks have been used around the world for the last 45 years. I published Marketing Management in 1967 and it is now in its 15th edition. I have also written about 50 other marketing books and over 150 scholarly articles.

If I am the “Father of Modern Marketing,” I would call Peter Drucker the “Grandfather of Modern Marketing” for all the brilliant insights and statements that he made about the critical importance of marketing in managing a business.